Dexy’s Midnight Runners To Reissue Classic Second Album ‘Too-Rye-Ay’
To tie in with the record’s 40th anniversary, its new edition is presented “as it should have sounded” in 1982.
To tie in with the 40th anniversary of their multi-platinum selling second album, Dexy’s Midnight Runners present Too-Rye-Ay “as it should have sounded”: a new edition of the landmark record, which will be out on October 14 through UMC.
Kevin Rowland was never happy with the final mix of the album, which was first released by Mercury Records in July 1982, despite its huge commercial success. So with Helen O’Hara, and Pete Schwier they decided to mix it again.
Kevin Rowland said: “For many years, I’ve been haunted by the mixing on Too Rye Ay. It wasn’t as good as it should’ve been! and I knew it. It was nowhere near as musical as it should’ve sounded. When the album was finished, I knew it wasn’t right, and asked the label for more money to do some more mixing. They said, no that’s it, the budget is spent. And I had to live with it. Of course, tracks like “…Eileen” and one or two others turned out great, but most of the album was not mixed to the standard it should’ve been, and not mixed to the standard the performances and songs deserved.”
“Finally, we were able to right that wrong this year. The fact that it’s a 40th anniversary of the albums’ initial release means absolutely nothing to me. It was purely an opportunity to remix the tracks, which we did with the masterful Pete Schwier, who has worked with us since Don’t Stand Me Down. Helping me evaluate the mixes and making suggestions on how to improve them, was the brilliant Helen O’Hara. Finally, it sounds like the album it was always meant to be.”
“The thing that’s making me most happy currently, is the fact that we are now getting a chance to release the remixed radio edit of “Old”, as a single. It was considered as a single at the time and should’ve been released. This is another wrong we are righting and I’m really happy with the track. Jack Satchell, who has worked with us for a few years now, has shot a really good video to go with it.”
Producer Pete Schwier adds: “All the material on the remix is from the original recordings, nothing new has been added. Some of the arrangements were changed, for example: on “Plan B” we moved the brass to come in earlier and the ‘girl’ talking was replaced with Kevin’s, which he recorded at the time.
“On “Liars A to E” we brought the backing vocals down an octave in places, as Kevin felt they were too high and on “Until I Believe In My Soul”, we replaced the ‘penny whistle’ on the intro with Jim’s trombone, also recorded at the time. The remix itself was quite straightforward – trying to bring as much emotion as possible to the songs, and because technology has advanced so much a lot of pops, noises and artefacts that were on the original multi-tracks we were able to clean up.
“The brief was to create an alternative mix, keeping the spirit of the original recordings and shed new light on some of these great songs. I hope this has been achieved.”
The album’s cover has also been re-modelled, using the preferred image from the “Come On Eileen” single sleeve.
The album is best known for the multi-million selling single “Come On Eileen” – a number one hit around the globe including the US and UK. This perennial favourite includes the refrain that inspired the album’s title. It also features the hit singles “Show Me”, “Liars A to E”, “The Celtic Soul Brothers” and “Jackie Wilson Said”.
The deluxe sets also include non-album B-sides, “Soon”, “…And Yes We Must Remain The Wildhearted Outsiders, Love (Part 2)”, “Dubious” and non-album single “Let’s Get This Straight From The Start”.
The super-deluxe box set features 16 tracks from the legendary shows at London’s Shaftesbury Theatre, in October 1982, remastered in stunning new sound and previously unreleased. It also features three unreleased out-takes of album tracks and the relevant singles and B-sides from the period. The box also includes a hardback book with new interviews and liner notes, rare archive photos and memorabilia. There is also a replica 1982 tour programme and two photo art prints.
